We are less than a week away from the 2026-27 NHL season officially beginning, and some teams are looking to add depth to their roster. There were some former Boston Bruins players who were unsigned going into training camps, which was somewhat of a surprise to some.
One of those players is former defenseman Matt Grzelcyk. He left a couple of years ago in free agency and spent the last couple of seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Chicago Blackhawks. However, it looked like he might be unemployed when the regular season begins, but that won't be the case after he signed a deal with the Buffalo Sabres on Friday.
Sabres ink former Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk to a one-year deal
There were several injury updates with Buffalo on Friday, and a couple of them had to do with defensemen Mattias Samuelsson and Olen Zellweger. Both are not expected to be a long-term injury, but signing Grzelcyk to a one-year deal with an AAV of $850,000 is a very low-risk, high-reward deal for the defending Atlantic Division champs.
Grzelcyk is an offensive defenseman for Buffalo who thrived offensively in 2024-25 for the Penguins. He played in all 82 games that season and registered a career-high 39 assists with one goal. He logged a career-high 20:37 of ice time during that season, while also picking up a career-high 15 assists on the power play.
He went unsigned last offseason before signing a PTO with the Blackhawks and earning a contract. Grzelcyk played in 69 games with 12 assists while averaging just under 17 minutes a night. The 32-year-old former Boston University star has played in 596 games with 26 goals and 161 assists and just over 18 minutes a night.
The Sabres have been dealing with injuries in camp, and there was some thought that they might bring back Logan Stanley, whom they acquired last season from the Winnipeg Jets. However, they decided to go the route of Grzelcyk, who is a smaller player but has a much better offensive upside, something they were clearly looking for. Depending on how the injuries shake out, Grzelcyk could find himself in the lineup when the puck drops on the season for the Sabres next week.
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